Korean rapper Northface God deletes his 'Faker' music video after using an AI likeness of T1's Faker without consent

Korean rapper Northface God ended his new music video with an AI-generated Faker. Faker never agreed to it, and 3 days later the video was gone.

Northface God, real name Han Sang-hoon, released his album Time To Glo 3 on October 4, 2026. The video for its track “Faker”, named after T1’s League of Legends star Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok, closed on an AI-made Faker that went in without his prior consent, Newsis reported. Late on October 7, Korea time, the rapper deleted the video and posted an apology that calls it “100% my ignorance.”

The song itself stays. “Faker” is still track 4 of the 12-track album on Apple Music, and its auto-generated audio version still plays on YouTube. Only the video came down.

No English-language outlet had covered this when I wrote this, so everything below comes from Korean reports and the apology itself, in my translation.

What Northface God said in his apology for the AI Faker music video

Before the apology, he defended the scene. In a comment under the video, he wrote that it was recreated with AI “out of respect for Faker” and was “not footage of Faker actually appearing,” Etoday reported. Some fans weren’t having it, and asked whether anyone had cleared the use of Faker’s face.

So he posted a letter as an image, with a short caption on top:

“

It's my fault. I'm sorry. I'll be more careful from now on.

Here is the letter in full:

Hello, this is Northface God, Han Sang-hoon. I’m sorry for causing confusion and discomfort to many people by inserting an AI of Faker at the end of the music video for my song Faker. I had absolutely no bad intentions, such as trying to make money using a celebrity’s face. This happened 100% because of my ignorance.

I deleted the video immediately.

To Faker and the SKT T1 fans, who must have felt uncomfortable, I am truly sorry.

From now on, I will review things carefully before I act.

The letter is about intent: no bad intentions, no plan to make money. It never says he asked Faker or T1 first, and none of the Korean coverage says he did.

How T1 and Faker fans reacted to Northface God’s AI music video

As of October 8, neither Faker nor T1 had said anything in public, and none of the 7 Korean reports I read carried a statement from either.

T1 has stepped in before, though. In May 2025, after a presidential campaign used Faker’s image and his signature shush pose, T1 said Faker “is not affiliated with any political stance, party, or campaign” and that it was “working to have such posts removed,” Korea JoongAng Daily reported.

The fan comments TV Report collected were mostly forgiving, like “That was AI?” and “I think this guy really did it without malice.” A few picked on the letter calling the team “SKT T1”, a name it dropped in 2019.

And the fandom goes back years. In August 2024, Northface God released a single called “Hide on bush”, the name of Faker’s famous solo queue account. What none of the reports mention is a yes from Faker.

So where does that leave anyone else putting a real face into an AI video?

Can you use a real person’s likeness in an AI music video without permission?

In South Korea, not safely. Three rules touch an AI face in a music video, and the 2 that land on the creator are older than the new AI law.

Portrait right. Korean courts protect anyone’s face. In May 2021, the Seoul Central District Court ordered a company to pay 30 million won for selling products with gymnast Shin Su-ji’s photos after her ad contract ran out, The Asia Business Daily reported. The same court threw out her publicity-right claim, because no Korean statute or custom gave her one.

Publicity clause. That gap closed in November 2021. On November 11, the National Assembly added a clause to the Unfair Competition Prevention Act against using a well-known person’s name, portrait, voice or signature for your own business without permission. It took effect on April 20, 2022, with injunctions, damages and correction orders as the remedies and no criminal penalty, according to a briefing in Lawtimes.

AI Basic Act. Korea’s AI Basic Act took effect on January 22, 2026, and it does require AI output to be labelled, with deepfakes marked clearly. That duty sits with the companies that build or run the AI tools. The Ministry of Science and ICT said individuals, YouTubers and creators who use AI tools fall outside the act, Etoday reported on the day before it took effect.

Newsis read the Northface God case as the latest of the portrait and publicity-right disputes that generative AI keeps producing. Other countries are sorting out the same thing: a Tokyo court ruled on September 30 that a voice is a publicity right in Japan, the EU AI Act puts its watermark duty on tool makers, and the US NO FAKES Act would give every person a federal right over AI copies of their face and voice. RIAA chief Mitch Glazier says that bill still has “a real shot” this year.

So if you make videos with AI music video generators, the face is the one input the tool can’t clear for you. A caption that says “tribute” doesn’t clear it either. That takes a yes from the person, ideally in writing (and no, this isn’t legal advice).

Meanwhile, the sanctioned version of this exact idea lands on October 9. Riot Games premieres “Know My Name”, the Worlds 2026 anthem by its virtual group True Damage, with an official music video built around Faker and T1’s run to 3 straight world titles. Same subject, same genre, and this time the company that runs his league made it.